The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-11-05
A WRETCHED CAREER.
Death of an Australian in the
Slums of China.
FORGERY MADE HIM AN EXILE.
Too Heavily-A' Reporters Chance
Acquaintance.


strolling along the seawall, found him
self, almost before aware of it, at North
Beach. Moving toward one of the seats
for the purpose of giving his weary
limbs rest, the reporter found it Occur
pied by rather seedy looking individ-
ual, dressed in a dilapidated pepper
andsalt suit and hat decidedly
the worse for wear AS the reporter ap-
preached the seedy Individual gathered
his rags about him and, with the rem
nants of an unforgotten courtesy, made
room for the scribe to seat himself. The
-gatherer nodded his thanks, and
after awhile conversation sprang up be
tween the two. The man was a ready
tsIker, and educated far above what his
appearance indicated. They r0ved
from one subject to another, from Eng
land to Japan, from China to India,
and from Asia to Australia Australia
proving to be the mans birth placer,
from baseball to music the bribery
trial to sermons, and from prayer
meetings to horse-racing. An" said
the man, horse racing, that is what
caused me to be here" at this the re-
porter pricked up his ears, thinking he
scented a story. But the mans lips
were ealed, until after sundry prom
ises and good deal of persuasion, he
at length told the following 9tory: at
was Sunday morning in Melbourne.
three DAYS after the cup. A lovely
day it was, the air laden with the
breath of spring flowers. even in that
very unromantlc suburb, Emerald Hill.
sat by the open wiudow, my head
aching dismally, and my brain racked
with worry. The Sabbath calm with
out and the beauty of the morning
seemed but mockery and aggravation
of my trouble, FOR 1 could not appre-
ciate Them
What was the matter ?" interrupted
the reporter, thinking the man was
going into an Introduction yard long,
at lest.
"a too common story" was the re
ply. l was at the time l speak resident
manager, at very youthful age fo-
such a position, OF branch of the
Bank Of, situated in the suburb 1of
Melbourne, before mentioned. l had
always, I believe, been considered
steady That is to say, never drank
to excess, never frequented billiard
tables, rarely theatres, and up to with
in three months of the date OF the cup
had never known what it was to gamble
any shape. 1t had CHANGED. unfOrtu
nstely for me, that during the month
of August in that year, a youngster
was sent to assist me from the head of
flee, whom l shall call Gregory, and
with whom [, most unluckiiy, became
very intimate. He was frank, win
ming, most vivacious boy, brimful of
life and spirits, a splendid cricketer, a
good scull r, the winner of several cups
at athjethic sports and fayorite,
moreover, with every body in the head Of
fee, from the general manager down
ward.
Before Gregory had been a month
under me at Emerald Hill, he had,
strange to say, infected me to some ex-
tent with his love Of betting. He had
his cup book, sttaight-out and double
and treble event bets with a variety of
bookmakers, and he introduced me to
several of the fraternity. | had begun
very cautiously. l confined myself at
first to moderate wagers, such as, if all
lost, would not
SERIOUSLY INCONVENIENCE NE.
But as the all-exciting cup day ap-
preached, and night alter night found
me at Tattersall's, had begun to lose
my head bit, and, getting into the |
society of a party who were sweet on
Exile, l plunged heavily on that |
quadruped. Shall | ever forget those |
three or four minutes of suspense, pro-
longed in their bitter agony to the very |
winning post, as inch by inch in the |
last fifty yards, the 3-year Old from
Sydney with the rider in yellow and |
black. struggled up and just beat Exile
by head. And Monday was settling
day. That was my trouble; for since
the Thursday previous | had, so to |
speak, run amuck. On Friday l was |
of course confined to the bank,
but the instant II O'Clock came |
on Saturday. and L could get |
away was off to Pennington, deter |
mined to, if pos i l., retrieve my re-
verses. OF course | only plunged the |
d eeper into the mire. It was all the |
chase, the Queens plate, the spring |
handicap, all fell to other picks than |
mine; and found myself back in town |
that Saturday evening the loser OF a
still greater amount than on cup day. |
Angry and desperate | sank still deeper. |
I got among party of sportsmen who
knew me to be bank clerk, and prob
ably good mark, and we played I'M
limited until 4 in the morning. Then
at last, sick in mind and body, and ut
terly ashamed and disguised at my
conduct, l crawled home. And now,
how was l to meet my liabilities l had
rigidly abstsined from tamper
ing with the funds of the bank, even to
the value of q penny, and kept my /
own account, in accordance with our
rules in another bank. But this account
was reduced to mere nominal credit
and 1 had given during nay
at cards on Saturday night
and early Sunday morning my checks
for nearly ESQ, which l knew would be
on presentation. In addi-
ton TO this my betting book showed me
that several gentlemen of the ring
would be looking anxiously for me on
Monday, expecting to receive altogether
f2n0 from me. The question was
WHERE IT WAS ALL TO CONE FROM?
My salary was but f3OO, and here was